The Great Hacker War
The "Great Hacker War" is the player-dubbed name of the first major influx of new Hacking methods, spanning from mid-2009 to early 2010. Pre-War Era From the Closed Beta till early 2009, Combat Arms was a fair, prosperous community. Players had fun, and skill was abundant. Hacking was a myth, and the few hacks that did occur was easily patched soon after their release. However, hacking soon became a nightmarish-reality, and forever changed the people of Combat Arms. Primordial Hacking Before the War, hacking was very few in between. The majority of exploits were glitches in the newly released maps, and the hacks that were mainly used were aimbot, chams, or speeding. Hacking during that period was a very minor detail, and it occured very rarely. Players seldom called each other hackers, and all of them played fairly at the time. The worst exploit of the time was the intercepting of Nexon's special announcement device, which allowed hackers to start megaphoning hacking advertisements, which caused major lag. It was also one of the main elements which led to the the chaos ahead... The Great Hacker War The Great War itself began to brew ever since the Open Beta. However, a recent turn of events approximately 1-year after Combat Arms' release ignited the fuse for the war. The Dawn of Unrestriction Beginning in early November, many infamous hacking sites (including TGS and Hack Site) released new hacking methods to the general public. Commonly referred to as "Pub hacks", they managed to draw serious amounts of users into the new, rapidly growing industry; contaminating Combat Arms' newly formed community. A wave of hackers suddenly surged and disrupted the gaming flow of many users. Many legitimate players were outraged; their much harder-to-earn Kill-to-Death Ratio’s were being seriously compromised, and they demanded action. Nexon responded by saying that they would continue to update their security, and once again told players to keep their account information safe and secure. In December 2009, Nexon claimed to have banned over 1000 suspected hackers; though this was still only a miniscule fraction of the ever-growing hacker community (and it had little impact on the rest of them). Many players were not satisfied... Flight of the Legit Eventually, the hacking situation became so out-of-hand that most Legitimate players started a new routine; to play only the first few days after a patch's release before going back into submission. Many players agreed a new patch allowed a short period of time (1-3 days) where hacking was minimum, making it best time to play Combat Arms; because a majority of the previous hacks had just been patched. However, newer updates eventually became unable to patch certain hacks. Even on the day of a new patch, a majority of hackers could already be encountered; most of which were seen hacking before the patch. As such, many legit players began to quit Combat Arms; permanently. As the number of hackers grew; (through corruption, exploitation, and the greed of formerly-legitimate players) the number of legit players greatly decreased. Hackers were rampant, utilizing Chams, OPK/Ghost, and Fly Hacks constantly. 9 of every 10 games had at least 1 or 2 hackers in it. Someone would be hack-cusated at least once. Vote-Kicking and Elite-Modding was greatly abused. Combat Arms, it seemed, was on the verge of collapsing, like greater FPS games before it. The Hackers' "Eradication" During the final days of the War, the number of ever-loyal players continued to dwindle. Nexon remained silent to the many pleas of their customers. Finally, as a last-ditch effort to stop the hackers, Nexon implemented a large patch, which greatly decimated the hacking community's efforts. Changes were made to the way players logged in, so that they could safely do so from the CA Website itself. (Though players are still able to do so without going on the website) The UI was reformatted for quicker, easier access; which also reduced the number of possible exploits greatly. Lag was aimed to be reduced, with more-reinforced servers. Many known glitches that still remained were patched, though a number of obvious ones were left alone. (It is speculated that these are Nexon-approved spots which are acceptably NOT-glitch spots) A majority of hacks were then patched, a re-patched, ensuring that Combat Arms could be secure once again. As such, the Great Hacker War unofficially came to an end on in March 2010, when AnhLab Hackshield severly updated its protocols, taking out 95% of all PUB hackers, and 40% of VIP. Post-War Era Soon after the GHW's "end", the number of hacking incidents fell greatly. The community of Combat Arms enjoyed a peaceful prosperity for a few months. In the same months that followed the war, however, hacking sites attempted to recover. Several months later, a number of increasing skirmishes soon set in motion of what seemed to be the beginning of a new war... Alliance- The Rise of Hope Although hacking incidents have continually surged for some time, there was also some good that came from it. A new, more-player safe way of hacking was introduced shortly after people began to exploit the game: Anti-hacking. These hackers would use their exploits for good, eradicating any "bad" hackers and ensuring that gameplay was fair and safe. The majority of these Anti-hackers used means such as ghosting, tapping, and chams to their advantage, and only if necessary. After the GHW, legitimate players and Anti-hackers decided that enough was enough. If Nexon wasn't going to help, they would take matters into their own hands. The two factions formed a truce: they planned to take the fight back to the hackers. Legits and Anti-Hackers alike prepared for a counterstrike aimed the heart (or source) of the hacking. These noble players decided to band together to try and keep the hackers at bay. Legit and "White-hat" clans assembled and recruited players for their cause. Like other hackers, Anti-hackers used the newest and latest hacks to their advantage. Some also reported any hacks they had found to Nexon, in the hopes that they would be patched. Nexon seemed rather grateful of these players, as they were generously assisting the over-swamped Nexon Staff. Resurgence- NX Exploit Around late January, 2010, Nexon joined the new growing trend of websites in letting people who did not want to spend real money on NX get some; Free Online Surveys. A great majority of 2nd-Generation hackers managed (and are still managing) to complete massive amounts of surveys. The little increments of NX soon accumulated into large amounts, adding to their grade, allowing them to enter into the Black Market. Though there were already many hackers in the Black Market, the overwhelmingly increasing number of hackers which flooded in caused serious damage. The server crashed and experienced maintenance several times. Their new-found NX also gave them the liberty to abuse and spam incredible amounts of NX items, like the M32 Grenade Launcher and the Airstrike Designator- LGB. NX users were enraged. Many of them demanded for the BM grade requirement to be raised. In the February 2010, the Black Market grade lock was raised to Silver. This eliminated a majority of hackers, but also took 80% of legitimate players out. (Although some people still managed to bypass the grade lock, via invites or just using the weak security.) The community flooded the forums with demands about changing the grade lock once again, this time to lower it. The grade lock was repealed once again, back to Bronze. However, Nexon also changed the grade requirements so that it required more NX usage to gain higher grades. Retribution- Fall of the Fortress For a while, it seemed, hacking had finally been beaten back. The alliance between the players seemed as strong as ever, and the occasional hacker was kept at bay. However, everything fell nearly fell apart in just one day. It was a seemingly average day, with no events or patches in sight. Maintenence commenced and finished as usual. Then, suddenly, a spree of mysterious hackings occured. It was unknown exactly who created the new hacks, but the wave was infectious. Hackers began to re-surge, and the Alliance readied to wage the war it prepared for. However, a devastating turn of events took place which shattered the balance once again. Some of the leading Legitimate players turned on their Anti-hacking brethren, as well as the rest of their comrades. The seemingly-impenetrable "fortress" of players started to crack from within. A select group of hackers, dubbed the "AUG" series, led the rest of the hackers in for the kill. They utilized only the most devastating hacks, from entire server crashes to massive Quarantine exploits, and even using Rank Hacks to surpass Greatfullded as the General of the Army. The players of Combat Arms were devastated. The tranquility they had worked so hard to re-achieve fell apart right before their eyes, and they were helpless to stop it. However, the remaining Legitimate and Anti-Hacking factions held their ground. They eventually pushed back the hacker forces, and kept them at bay. This time, Nexon intervened as soon as possible. They kept the servers stabilized, and continued to support the players as much as they could. Thanks to Nexon's contributions this time, the playing field was greatly leveled. The Second War had begun. The Second Hacker War By the time of the alliance, hacking was once again in full swing. Newer, more deadly-efficient ways of exploiting the game had been conceived and used. The ongoing fight between the player-created factions began to set the mark for newer generations. This time, the innocent players of Combat Arms weren't totally helpless; they could fight back. Overtaken- Hackers within a Mist of Defeat As time passed, more advanced patches came, and the hackers took blow after blow. Many hackers went into submission, hoping to find a way to bypass Hackshield's security. Meanwhile, the remaining Legits and Anti-hackers decided to use this time to regroup their efforts and prepare for a second wave. Some went to recruit more users for their efforts. Very recently, a majority of hackers mysteriously disappeared. It is most likely that they are just biding their time until newer exploits could be found. Whether that happens or not, the Legit and Anti-Hackers rejoice their victory for now... So as you are reading this, the Second War is still in motion. Which side are you on? Category:System